Mobile Photography

Refined photography uses distinct lighting strategies. Knowing what to look for is essential when the goal is a unique and artistically stylized photograph. To be creative you have to know the basics. Creating a foundation from which to build on your basic expertise requires close attention, experimentation, patience, and passion for your media. Photography sets the tone for many moments in time and is a representation of merriment, beauty, nature, perseverance, growth, knowledge, resistance, change, and many other aspects related to a viewer’s perception. Choosing the right lighting strategy in a photograph sets the right mood to enhance perceptions and deliver stronger messages.

Here are some photography lighting strategies that will help differentiate your photos from mediocre snapshots and will help you master key fundamentals in no time at all:

• Projecting a wider light source generates a softer light and subdues shadows. Casting a narrower light generates a harder light and sharper shadows. The wider light source diffuses the scene de-emphasizing shadows, textures, and contrast. The narrower light can enhance features by creating sharper shadows, increasing contrast in color, shape and form, and accentuating textures to give them a three-dimensional look.
• Diffusion disperses a light source, making it wider and softer. Clouds are a perfect example of a natural diffuser. When a cloud covers the sun’s natural light, it softens a shadow’s crispness. Three types of diffusion are clouds, overcast skies, and fog.
• Intentionally bouncing or directing a light source pointed toward a matte surface such as a ceiling or a white wall can also act as a diffuser. The light will spread and cover a wider area.

It’s important to assess whether a client is the right match for your photography style and the stories you’re good at capturing. When you’re consulting with clients, ask questions about what exactly they want, and consider whether you’re prepared to offer the services they want. Once you’ve decided to work with a couple, cultivate a positive, communicative relationship. You don’t have to be best friends with every couple that you shoot, but a basic level of trust helps clients to be themselves on the wedding day. The more comfortable they feel with you, the more moments you’ll be invited to shoot.

Today’s DSLR photo tip continues with our series of tips covering functions on your camera that you are most likely not using. Let’s talk about back button focusing.

Have you ever tried to photograph a scene in low light conditions? Often the lens can’t find the focal point and will keep moving back and forth trying to find something to focus on. By the time it actually does focus on something, the shot has long since passed. Not to mention that the final focus isn’t always where you want it to be.

In other words, once you set up your camera for back button focusing, when you depress the shutter half way, it doesn’t affect the focus. You can focus with the back button and the focus point will stay the same no matter how many shots you take and even if you change the exposure settings.

Now, in that low light situation, you set the focus once and you don’t have to keep re-finding it. You can set your focus to have blurry shots if you want them, and pre-focusing on a certain spot is no problem.

Whenever somebody asks me if they should take a free job I answer with a resounding, no. Don't do it. Just don't. It should be a hard and fast rule in your book: do not work for free! But let's go head and look at when, perhaps, just maybe, you should at least consider working for free.

It’s hard to say no when a good friend needs a headshot, or wants to know if you can help their mom photograph some stuff for her work, or even when someone needs help shooting a school project. While non-profits and not-for-profit’s do pay their employees that doesn’t mean they have a bunch of money sitting around to pay for things like photographers. Thus, at one point or another, you’ll probably be asked to do some free work for one. Or student work, future possibilities in the field or when you simply believe in it.

How do you make your photography more meaningful, moving and unique? Motivations significantly influence the quality of photography we create. Pleasing everyone doesn't work, which can lead to an uninspiring image.

Giving yourself a photography assignment, then narrowing focus.

I can still go take a photo of the Opera House, for example. But a pretty picture, which has also been taken by millions of people, won’t do now.

If I’m going to hold myself to account and really make this day about making a difference to someone through my photography, I’ll need to dig much deeper.